Improvement in machines for opening rope



UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD MANSLEY, YOlli" PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES- FOR OPENING ROPE-1..'4

vSpecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 32,524, dated Tune 1l, 1561.

To aZZ whom itsmaz/ concern.-

Be it known thatl, RICHARD MANsLEY, of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improveinentsin Machines for AOpening Rope into Tow or Oakuln; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference beinghad to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is aperspective view, the cover of the machine being-thrown back; Fig. 2, a transverse section; Fig. 3, a perspective view of a part of the feeding apparatus.

In Fig. 1, A is a frameyl, a cylinder, upon which are fastened two sets ot' beaters, b, and two sets of knife-blades, b', which sets are shown in Fig. 2. The beaters areconstrueted in sections, and when .these latter are arranged so as to act successively upon the ropes, the

machine operates with a more steady mot-ion and with less expenditure of power than `would be required if each set of beaters formed an unbroken line parallel to the axis ol" the cylinder. The sections may be increased or diminished in number, and they may be placed on thecylinder, each parallel to the axis, between spiral lines running from one end to the other end of the cylinder, or other- .wisevaried in their arrangement, as desired;

but the best arrangement for them is shown in Fig. l, where the middle section is about equal in length to the sections which are set back on either side of it, since by this arrangement the tow is drawn from the ends toward the middle of the cylinder. Each section of the beaters is faced with .a detachable plate secured by bolts. l By this device the plates,

when their Aedges are worn with-nse,can be turned and caused to present theirdifferent longitudinal edges for action upon the ropes. The knifeblades b are set in sectional iron plates arranged on lines about parallel lto, the

general direction of the beaters, as shown in Fig. 1. The blades have edges, straight or curving, from abonttheir bases to their points, which points, when the cylinder is in motion, describe the same circle that is described by the edges of the face-plates of the beaters.

C is the lower single feedfroller, which is fixed in its bearings. y

D D', 85o., are upper separate feed-rollers, each revolving on its own independent axis or shaft,` and each of these shafts having its bearing so vsupported'as to. allow of its vertical motion; To eachof the blocks or other de- 'vices so' supporting` these rollers, and which are designated in Fig. 3 by thc letter l?, is secured one end-of a bent rod, d, the other end of which is attachedto' a lever, d, to which is -appended a weight, d. The advantages of this construction are that the different upper rollers being fed each lwith a separate rope', and one of the ropes'having run through, the action of the remaining vupper rollers is not impaired or affected, for each one, having a separate bearing, acts entirely independent of thezothcr. rBhe ropes may also be of different sizes. Time is also saved and more work effected, for by raising the levers e, thereby raising the upper rollers, D D', Src., ropes can he inserted to meet the action of thebars Z) and knife-blades b', instead'of waiting for them to be drawn in by the action of the rollers. These are, 'I think, advantages over any machine for the same or similar purposes yet invented. i

F, Fig. 2, isa heating-bar, over which` move the ropes, which are acted upon at the edge of the bar by the beaters and knife-blades.

G is a feedboard, over which thc ropes are fed into the machine.

The whole feeding apparatus, made up of beating-bar, feed-rollers, and weights, may be set by the screws Hneax'er to or farther from the points of the knife-blades, as may be nec-` essary to suit the different sizes of rope to be opened. The pulley 4K,in connection with the pulley M and the cogged gearing marked" L, Fig. l, givemotion to the feed-rollers.

N is an underlining of tin or sheet-iron, over which the tow passes from the machine.

I construct the frame of wood .or `castfiron, the cylinder of wood, wit-h internal oast-iron braces to strengthen the cylinder 'and sup-l port its journals; the beat-ers of cast-iron; the

face-plates, knifeblades, and beating-bar of y lends of the ropes-one rope for each small- The beaters and. knife-v feed-roller-between the feed-rollers, which feed them in until they are opened to within.

six or eight inches of their ends. The remainingparts are then Withdrawn and reversed, the unopened ends being inserted, in vorder to prevent the passing through of unopened strands. y

The draft Fig. 1 represents a crank, J, for the application of hand-power; but the, Working-machine is run by steam or water power,

and has a pulley for belting, which pulley may be placed at either end of the cylinder.

Having thus described my invention, Wlat I claim 'as' new, and desire to secure by Let- 1. The combination of the separate upper feed-rollers, D D', Ste., their supports P, and the rods d, connecting` them with the levers d, and Weights d, the Whole arranged substantially as described, and for the purpose aforesaid.

2. The combination of the beaters b, knifebl'ades b, and the adjustable feeding apparatus, the whole eonstruetedand arranged substantially as described.

RICHARD M ANSLEY` 

